The Age of NOT so Innocent

On my drive to the peninsula this evening, thoughts were running amok in my tangled mind, as usual, and memories of my very first dance came up. I was in the sixth grade. It was the farewell dance, a dance to say goodbye to being a child and welcoming life as a grown-up, life in junior high. I remember this moment well. I was standing by the wall (of course) with a couple of other girls. The last song of the evening had just started playing. A boy from Mrs. Sullivan's, my homeroom class, approached me and asked if I wanted to dance. He was so sweet and polite. I'm absolutely horrible at saying no, so I said "OK" and followed him to the edge of the dance floor, quickly giving my friends an unsure glance. With my jacket still draped over my forearm, we danced a very awkward and innocent dance. I don't remember if we spoke, but I know our bodies were more than a foot away from each other. It was a dance mom and dad wouldn't have minded much, even as a sixth grader.

Coincidentally, the topic of school dances were brought up during dinner with my friends tonight. My friend had recently deejayed a high school event and was booed for playing a particular song. It was a good song too! It's new, hip, and has a good beat. But the kids booed. They wanted hard-core hip-hop. They wanted music that allowed them to get freaky. If you compare school dances these days with ones from almost twenty years ago, you will find the differences to be astounding. NONE of the kids, as far as I can remember, were freaking each other during that sixth grade dance. Today, some of these children practically have sex on the dance floor! I shake my head in shame when I see these kids going about wearing clothes that reveal their breasts and midriff with low and tight fitting shirts, butt cracks with their low-rise jeans, butt cheeks with their extremely short skirts... And why do so many of the boys want to portray the look of a bad boy by waddling around in jeans they've pushed down to the knees?! The whole sex issue has gotten so bad that I've learned from a friend that one school has even banned hugging. Hugging! A simple gesture many people use to express happiness is no longer allowed! How bad it must have been for the school to take such a dramatic and illogical step in hopes of stopping physical contact between their students!! I'm not suggesting everybody was as clean as a whistle when I was attending high school. I knew of a girl who supposedly have had so many abortions that she wasn't supposed to be able to get pregnant again. But gossip told me she was again with child the very summer she graduated from high school. When my older sister was in the seventh grade, one of her classmate's mom was only 24 at the time. That means she had him when she was only twelve years old. I didn't even get my period until I was thirteen!

So who is to blame? An accusing finger usually points to the parents and the media. I point my finger at them too. I am pretty sure most parents do not want their children to be whores and players, but many aren't spending as much time with their children as they should be. Because of demanding jobs and the increasingly wide gap between parent and child (which I think technology plays a big part), strong bonds aren't being made. But I'm not yet a parent so I probably don't have the proper insight...

However, I can comment about the media. I remember three films that were considered racy when I was younger. Dirty Dancing (1987), Ghost (1990), and Basic Instinct (1992). Dirty Dancing and Ghost had some kissing and suggestive dancing. Basic Instinct was a bit more with Sharon Stone's flashing to the entire world, but take a look at what is shown on the tube today. It's if producers and creators are having a race with each other. Whoever can push the limits furthest wins. Of course, this applies to the big screen as well. Most movies and and primetime shows include sexual content. It's not just the productions made for the post-puberty audience that have a negative affect on kids, some shows made for children are questionable too! A great example is Bratz! Little girls want to be these characters. And what makes up these characters? High heels, short skirts, exposed midriffs, and an excessive amount of makeup. Oh, and I forgot the attitude these characters embody. Innocent children are evolving into sassy little teeny boppers at an earlier age.



Gaaah! I often do this. I write, but then I forget what my whole point is. Maybe I should stop writing so late. Okay, well I think my main point is kids these days are growing up too fast, and they are eager to do this. They're not experiencing the innocence of their youth which I think is truly sad because many of my happiest moments are from my childhood.

Okay, if you are still reading, I congratulate you! Now go do something more important like... recycle that bottle or turn off some of those lights! Tata for now!!